Cardinal Becciu probed for conspiracy to commit crime

(ANSA) - ROME, NOV 25 - Cardinal Angelo Becciu, the highest ranking Catholic cleric to be put on trial for financial crimes, is now being probed for conspiracy to commit crime in relation to a social cooperative run by his brother in the cardinal's native Sardinia, Vatican sources said Thursday night.
    The case is not directly related to the alleged mismanagement of Vatican funds including in the purchase of a London property for which the cardinal is on trial in the Vatican, the sources said.
    It has also emerged that Becciu recorded a phone call from Pope Francis on July 24, 2021, three days before the Vatican trial opened and 10 days after the pope left hospital after a colon operation.
    Becciu's defence team said Thursday night that they had not received news of fresh charges against their client, who was however ready to clear anything up.
    Becciu is among 10 people on trial in the Vatican for fraud, including in relation to the loss-making acquisition of a London property on Sloane Avenue when he was the Substitute for General Affairs in the Secretariat of State.
    Earlier this month Becciu was ordered by a Como court to compensate a a former Vatican financial official and key witness in the Holy See funding case for "persecutory acts" against him and a female friend.
    The Como court condemned Becciu to compensate Mons. Alberto Perlasca, former head of the Administrative Office of the Secretariat of State, and the latter's friend Genoveffa Ciferri.
    It found the cardinal guilty of an "abuse of the procedural instrument" in the case brought by the two for non-pecuniary damage from crime, or persecutory acts.
    Becciu was sentenced to reimburse the court costs of Perlasca and Ciferri (over 20 thousand euros each) and to compensate for the damage suffered by Perlasca to the tune of nine thousand euros.
    In the funding case, Becciu has said he is comforted by the knowledge that Pope Francis believes in his innocence. (ANSA).